Our Impact

Ben Harris – Lead Broker & Rising Star of the Year 2025

As Lead Broker at In Financial Services, Ben Harris is transforming the financial future of young people across regional NSW. His mission is to make home ownership and wealth creation achievable and accessible for everyone,  no matter where they live or their background.

Ben’s passion for education and genuine care for his clients is changing lives across NSW.  By simplifying finance and building confidence, he’s helping hundreds of first home buyers and young investors take control of their financial future and strengthen their communities in the process.

His impact hasn’t gone unnoticed, Ben was named Rising Star of the Year at the 2025 Australian Broking Awards and listed as ‘ one to watch’ in the broking space, recognised nationally for his leadership, innovation, and commitment to empowering the next generation of regional Australians.

At In Financial Services, we believe that great ideas have the power to shift perspectives and spark real change. That’s why we’re proud to be the Major Partner of the 2025 TEDx Cooks Hill event – Reframe.

The 2025 event theme of, Reframe – shift your lens, challenge assumptions, and explore bold new perspectives, perfectly aligns with our own business value to Think Different, Act Smarter. For more than 20 years, our family-owned team has been helping people rethink how they approach money, property, and wealth creation,  empowering thousands of locals to make confident financial decisions.

By supporting TEDx Cooks Hill, we’re investing in ideas that challenge the status quo, celebrate innovation, and strengthen our local community. Together, we’re helping to inspire new ways of thinking, about life, success, and the future.

Another way or giving to the community is to ensure local businesses are being looked after and having access to grow their network. Realising this we started the BNI chapter in Maitland, we did a lot of research and carefully selected a core group of businesses to not only build the chapter but also mentor other business owners who had not yet built their business to where they want it to be. Ten years on, this has worked well with the chapter being one of the largest in our area and referring over $4.2 million per annum between the businesses. The motto of BNI is “Givers Gain” and this is something our staff embrace whole heartedly.

Over the last ten years our team has sponsored and donated to East Maitland Junior Rugby League, East Maitland Netball Association, Maitland Rugby Union, Carries Place, Maitland Hospital’s Children’s Ward, The Starlight Foundation and the list goes on. The money raised for The Starlight Foundation was pretty exciting for us as a wish was received in Maitland to help a child enjoy their day!

Our Trivia Night has been another successful fundraiser with previous years’ proceeds going to Hunter Prelude and The Harry Meyn Foundation. It is functions like this that make you proud of your community when venues, tables and chairs are offered to you free of charge because you are trying to raise money for others.

In Financial Services have contributed to deserving causes through our partnership with the global Buy1Give1 initiative. We contributed to a number of causes across the globe and within Australia.

In 2010, Janine pitched the idea of an indoor corporate sports day to raise funds for Mai Wel. From that moment Play-Wel for Mai-Wel was born and the annual corporate sports day has gone from strength to strength.

The fundraiser is an annual round robin competition of indoor sports, with local businesses banding together for a day of team-building fun and fundraising. Money raised goes to the Mai-Wel Group, which supports people with a disability, and those experiencing disadvantage in the Hunter.

To date, the event has raised over $143,500, and positively impacted countless lives across the region.

The Cancer Council’s Shitbox Rally is a national fundraiser which takes place annually. In 2017 the In Team put forward their best and bravest to travel over 3,800km from Adelaide to Cairns in a ‘shitbox’ car worth less than $1,000. The fearless In Team representatives raised $5,255 for the cause, contributing to the total raised by the event which was over $1,593,250.

In 2017 Janine travelled to Thailand to partake in a marathon bike ride organised by Hands Across the Water, an Australian, New Zealand and Thai charity that gives at-risk Thai children and their communities a helping hand. The ride consisted of a five day trek from outside of Bangkok to Khao Lak in Thailand, totalling 500km. The event raised over $384,000, with the In Team total reaching $8,372.36. The money raised helps to build homes and provide education to more than 350 children throughout Thailand.

In September 2018, Janine took part in the Camp Quality 1,000 K’s 4 Kids. The ride raised over $450,000 for Camp Quality 4 Kids Newcastle. This challenge took them from Maleny in Queensland to Warners Bay NSW. Camp Quality’s 1,000 K’s 4 Kids is a unique riding challenge that sees ordinary people doing the extraordinary! The ride is 1,000 km, 10-day cycling challenge full of mateship, teamwork and long days as well as fun, optimism and resilience – all to help raise money for kids impacted by cancer.

Kylie will be participating in ‘The Bloody Long Walk‘ on the 28th of July 2019. This is a 35km walk to help raise funds for Australians living with Mitochondrial Disease. Mito robs the body’s cells of energy, causing multiple organ dysfunction or failure. It can affect anyone at any age. Please help Kylie’s fundraising efforts fund research into desperately needed treatments and cures for this devastating disease. Every dollar will make a difference!

In April 2019 Janine went on a very exciting adventure to Base Camp Mt Everest. Her friend had completed this trek the previous year and suggested she would have liked it. Well, she never imagined the trek to be as demanding and so intense as it turned out to be.

The trek was 15 days in total, each day she walked for 6 to 8 hours and of course predominantly uphills. The higher she walked the harder it became as her oxygen levels decreased, which meant breathing became very hard and getting enough oxygen into her body just didn’t happen.

The walking tracks weren’t tracks but more just rocks, mud and a general direction of which way to go. Having an experienced guide was a blessing and made the whole experience so much more fun. Thanks to Amigo Trekking (Pramod and Rijan).

Janine just had to take each day as it came and she was very lucky to share the experience with her children (Amy and Ben), her sister (Cheryl) and best friend (Ann). They had a lot of fun along the way. One day they woke up to snow, started their trek, then the sun came out, then hail, then snow, then rain. They walked in hail, rain and snow for the whole day. The track was just mud or like a running river but it was the best day as they had all seasons in one day.

Every night was way too cold and they just couldn’t get a break from being cold. The bedrooms were definitely not 5 star (lucky to be 1) and the toilets were best not to talk about. They have met so many amazing people and saw things that they will never experience again.

Would Janine ever do it again? No, but she is so glad she did. Now looking for her next adventure.

Australian Mortgage brokerages have launched a Broker Bushfire Appeal via the Red Cross to support the individuals & communities affected by the bushfire crisis.

The bushfire crisis across Australia has claimed the lives of at least 25 people, decimated wildlife and bushland, destroyed almost 2,000 properties and displaced thousands of people – heightened over the holiday period, with hundreds of fires burned in several states and impacted the air quality across the nation.

Since launching the appeal on Monday 6th January the appeal has raised over $520,000.